Frost Bitten
by coconut994777
Summary: When climbing Carahras is hard enough, the stubborness of someone on watch and the bravery of another leads to a disaster... on hatius
1. Chapter 1

Ok, don't kill me. I'm lazy. I only write with inspiration. It will be worth it. Lots of angst. I promise.

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FROST BITTEN

It seemed like they had been walking forever. The first day of marching in the snow and all the hobbits agreed they couldn't survive such intense cold. Finally, the Fellowship stopped for the night. The freezing darkness was worse than the cold during the day.

"Who will keep watch tonight?" Gandalf asked. They all had forgotten whose turn it was because of their focus on staying warm.

"I shall," Boromir said. "I think it's my turn."

Everyone nodded, then ate a quick dinner in the small cavern that they had struggled to find. Everyone except for Boromir and Aragorn went straight to sleep after the light meal.

"Boromir," Aragorn whispered, once he was sure everyone was asleep. "Have you ever heard of wargs?"

Boromir nodded. "Yes, I know, they travel in packs around here."

"They will probably look for a place to sleep before morning. Wake me up immediately at the first site of their presence."

Again, Boromir nodded. "I shall."

After a few hours of watch, Boromir felt his eyelids slowly close. The only thing keeping him awake was the intense cold. When the wind had died down, he couldn't resist taking a quick nap, and his pride wouldn't let him bother Aragorn.

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Frodo, who had been secretly awake the entire time, began recognizing the snores of the different members of the Fellowship. He heard Boromir's snore, and sat up. He was awake anyway, so he took it upon himself to keep watch for a while. A sudden howling of many beings came ringing into his ears. Frodo's eyes widened, and became nervous. He listened to the fast-paced marching of the four-legged beings. He was sure that they were headed straight for the cave

_Maybe if I could distract them away from the cave…_he thought. Frodo looking through his bag to see if he had anything besides food to distract them. Nothing.

Then he remembered that there was a rabbit skin that they had left in a snow bank about 20 feet from the cavern. _It's the only way,_

Frodo quietly stood up and crept out of the small cave. He finally reached the snow bank and quickly dug the skin out.

He was too late. They hadn't seen him and continued toward the camp.

He tossed the skin toward the pack, but missed. He thought for a second of what to do, then made his move.

Frodo ran out into clear view, and did a close impression of a wolf howl. The pack stopped, and turned toward him.

_Those…aren't…wolves…_ Frodo realized.

They came running toward him faster than he was prepared for. He used the path through the snow the Fellowship had made the day before, but kept tripping over large clumps of snow. He had been running for about an hour or two when tripped on a rock camouflaged with snow. He tried to get back up, but his ankle became enflamed in pain.

Looking back up the trail, the wargs were getting closer. Frodo tried limping to a hiding place, but to no avail. Finally, the leader of pack snapped at his arm, and the others followed. Frodo regretted not bringing his uncle's sword.

He tried to fight them off, but the pain became too great. He reached for his neck, and disappeared. He crawled away, as the wargs, completely puzzled, continued down the trail, and away from the camp.

Frodo, exhausted, quickly pulled the Ring off. He panted, gasping for some comfort to his wounds. He could feel the blood freezing to his skin, and passed out.

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"Boromir!" Aragorn whispered. The sleeping man moaned, stretched, and finally opened his eyes to an extremely angry Aragorn, gripping at his neck.

"Where is Frodo?" The ranger demanded. "And why did you fall asleep?"

Boromir, who was still half-asleep, stared at Aragorn in confusion.

"How long have I been asleep? I thought I'd just take a quick nap…" Boromir mumbled.

"That's the least of our worries! Stay awake and take care of the others, Legolas and I are going to look for Frodo."

Boromir nodded.

Aragorn and Legolas, who had woken Aragorn when he realized Frodo was gone, ran down the Fellowship's path.

"There are Warg footprints not but 10 feet from camp. Then, they turn back around. I do not know why," Legolas explained.

"Look over to the side, those are hobbit feet. I'm sure of it. Come on," The two continued down, and finally put together the pieces of what happened.

"Where is Frodo now?" Legolas asked.

"Down the trail…" Aragorn sprinted down the path. He tried desperately to hold back tears, as he saw each place where Frodo tripped. Then, saw something he was looking for, but feared as well. The snow in front of him was covered in blood, and a figure lay on its side next to it.

"Frodo!" Aragorn gasped.

He picked up the unconscious hobbit, and thanked Elbereth for a pulse. He lay the hobbit back down, wrapped Frodo in his jacket, and tried to awaken him.

Legolas glared out into the distance. "The wargs are gone, they are just barely in my sight." When the elf was sure of this, he kneeled down with Aragorn.

"Frodo,"

A deep breath came from the hobbit. And then the flittering of his deep blue eyes caused Aragorn to cry.

Frodo struggled breathing, but was still able to speak. "Where…where am I? Ho…How did you…f…find me?" A jolt of cold and pain rippled through the hobbit's body.

"Shhh, it doesn't matter now, we need to get you back to camp."

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_Gandalf and Sam will kill me when they find out, or when Aragorn gets back, depends on which happens first._

Luckily, Gimli woke up before either of these events occurred. "Where are the elf and the man, and Frodo?"

"I'm not sure," Boromir said.

Gimli nodded, and began waking the rest of the Fellowship that still slept.

Frodo gasped in pain and shivered. "Don't worry, Frodo." The elf prince assured him. "We are almost there."

The hobbit in Aragorn's arms nodded.

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_Will Frodo live? What will happen to Boromir once Gandalf finds out?_

_Find out in the next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, so this chapter might be a bit shorter, but more is coming, I PROMISE!!!

Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed!

"I will go ahead and get a fire ready. Will you manage?" Legolas said. Frodo had been unconscious for a half-hour, and was getting more and more pale be the minute.

"Please do, I shall be fine." Aragorn said.

Legolas quickly sprinted with his elven agility up to the cave. Aragorn continued carefully up, and after a while finally stopped to catch his breath. The wind began to pick up as the sun gently rose.

Frodo took a deep breath in, and shivered as the breeze rolled over the layers of snow. "I have stopped only for a while Frodo, it is a very difficult climb."

"I know," Frodo whispered. "For I also have been carrying much weight up, every day." Frodo coughed and shivered once again.

"Come on, maybe five minutes until we reach camp, Legolas will have Gandalf start a fire." Frodo nodded as the ranger continued up.

"What has happened?" Gandalf demanded from Boromir. "Why didn't you stay watch? If you needed a replacement you could've woken someone!" The wizard growled angrily. The whole Fellowship fell silent, until Legolas ran into the small cave hurriedly.

"We need a fire," he said.

Sam looked up. "Where's Frodo?" the hobbit demanded.

"Aragorn is carrying him up as we speak. Gandalf, could we make a fire, please?"

Gandalf nodded and began to pull small twigs out of one of his packs.

"What do you mean 'carrying up'?" Merry implied.

"Based on the tracks and footprints we found, we believe Frodo ran outside to lead a pack of wargs away from the camp." Legolas's voice deepened in seriousness. "He saved us all, barely."

The Fellowship stared at Legolas in disbelief. "What do you mean 'barely'?" Boromir asked. His pride caught up with him again wondering how such a hobbit could be braver than he could.

"He…he was attacked briefly…"

Sam's mouth dropped, "Is he all right?" Sam's voice cracked.

"He was bitten a few times, but it could've be worse…"


End file.
